Ghosts
by APerfectSoldier87
Summary: The ESUN is under constant threat of attack from multiple terrorist groups. In order to stop it a Senator proposes a radical idea that could save or damn the ESUN's survival.
1. Chapter 1

"This peace will kill them, the battlefield their home, war their life."In reference to American Combat Soldiers(Vietnam)

Shadows

Rated: R

Author: Joe

A/N: After 3 years of peace the world has begun to collapse again. Relena Dorlain has continued her work and is later appointed Foreign Minister, while her people grow to love her more, her enemies begin to grow in size. The pilots have gone their separate ways, Wufei a full-time Preventer, Duo is working with the Sweepers, Trowa is still in the circus, Quatre has gained an even more substantial role in Colonial politics, but Heero seems to be nothing more then a shadow.

The ESUN has just been attacked a third time by separate terrorist groups. They attack a building, kidnaping officials and ransoming them back. The Preventers have mounted some rescue attempts, as well as attacks against some of the cells that they can find, but they aren't enough to stop or even slow the growing terrorist groups.

A.C 200

Tuesday 2, March

Brussels-Situation Room

Time: 0200

Senator Mckeanen stood up at the conference table, he was old, but still considered to be very wise. It had been his decision to call this emergency meeting after a third terrorist attack against the capital. Among the very few that had been alerted were the Preventer commander Une, the ESUN President and Vice President, as well as the six regional senate leaders and five colony representatives. It was time to show his intentions and the reason for the meeting.

"Even with an organization that's sole purpose is to put out 'fires' before they appear, we still have those terrorist with the ability to fall through the cracks. As shown tonight, even the Preventers cannot deal with the recent developments. It is in the best interest of the ESUN and the colonies to develop a joint organization to deal with these groups." Mckeanen stared at his audience for a second, letting the words sink in then continued.

"The Preventers strike forces have been spread to thin. They are not trained for these types of assaults and contingencies. My aids and I have been preparing a formal bill that will create another unit, however I think it would be in our best interest to do this quietly." The Senator sat back down but prepared to field questions.

"Mckeanen, the Preventers are more then capable to deal with the recent threats. Even Lady Une has said that the problems can be handled." The President said, he hadn't slept in two days and at the moment was not ready to have internal disputes about the necessity of the Preventers.

"To the Press." Une said as she leaned back in her chair, she was intrigued by the old Senators ideas. "I've been asking for years for the ESUN to let us develop a unit like the good Senator has suggested."

"That Lady Une, is not an option. The Preventers are meant to stop these things before they happen, they are not a force of hit-men and will not be used as such." The Colonial leader of L1 said slamming his fist down for emphasis.

Mckeanen watched as Une stared un-fazed at the man's theatrics.

"Which is why Senator Mckeanen's idea makes so much sense. A separate organization, a secret one to be used against these groups. At the current rate, the Preventers WILL be overwhelmed. It is only a matter of time." Une leaned forward in her chair speaking in a calm, reserved tone.

"Thank you Lady Une. If the leader of Preventer tells us that this is necessary—that she cannot handle this—then perhaps we should heed her words." The Vice-President spoke up turning from his position of observation of Une to Mckeanen. "Senator, hypothetically, how long would it take to train a unit like this?"

The old Senator let a smirk break across his face. "Well, with all the training that would be necessary, not to mention the recruiting, it could take as much as 5 years."

"We don't have that time." Une said turning to face Mckeanen, a frown appearing on her forehead.

"I know, I believe we could use Private Contractors for the initial phases, of course we'd put Preventer officers in charge of them, and later slowly transfer from Contractors to an actual force." Mckeanen said, fielding off the interruption.

"Private Contractors?" The L4 representative asked.

"Mercenaries." Une spat out, obviously in disapproval of the idea.

"Let's put this to a vote, and hammer out the details after we have slept." The President suggested, his eyes heavy as he looked across the table. "All those for Mckeanen's organization of mercenaries."

"Ghosts, Mr. President." Mckeanen interrupted. "They'll be called Ghosts."

"OK. Those in favor of the Ghosts reply with aye and those not in favor reply with nay."

11 ayes were the reply, 3 nays, and one abstaining from the vote, Lady Une. The President quickly wrapped up the conference, swearing everyone to secrecy and scheduling another meeting in two days.

A.C 200

Friday 5, March

Brussels-Dorlain Mansion

Time: 0615

Relena had been under a strict security watch for the last 48 hours. Unable to leave the house with her usual Preventer bodyguard force tripled, she was allowed no visitors that were not direct family or high ranking officials in the government. However being an optimist, she quickly realized the advantages of not having to go to work for the last two days.

Having slept for 38 hours (with interval breaks to eat or say hello to the guards that changed shifts) she had awoken today fully rested and itching to get back to work. Relena dressed quickly, throwing on a pants-suit and ran downstairs to grab some breakfast.

"Miss Relena." It was her aid Ms. Dawn, a nice lady who just happened to be sixteen years her senior, "With the restructured schedule, you're planned to be in the office at 7 a.m. From there it's paperwork until 11 a.m. where there is a meeting with Lady Une, followed by another meeting with the President and then you'll play catch-up for the rest of the day."

"A thrilling day." Relena said sarcastically as she reached the kitchen, "Coffee Dawn?"

"No thank you, two cups on the way over." She replied settling into a seat next to the table.

Relena moved around the kitchen, starting the coffee pot for the precious liquid that gave her life every morning. Walking to one of the shelves she grabbed a box of cereal as well as a bowl.

"You've also received a message from that little darling Mr. Winner. " Dawn said, holding a scratch piece of paper while flapping it in the air. "There really are benefits to you being on security lock-down. He called me to ask, are you all right and if it would be possible to arrange a meeting between the two of you?"

Relena turned around her face smiling at the idea of spending time with her old friend.

"Tell him of course!" elated she sat down to the table to stuff her face.

"Oh young love, how cute." Dawn replied tilting her head to the side with an expression that said spill the beans.

"For the hundredth time, I am not nor have I ever been involved with Mr. Winner." Relena said in between mouth-fulls of cereal.

"Really Relena, you should start doing something with your personal life. I was already divorced when I was your age." Dawn said it proudly while winking.

"Don't remind me." Relena stood up throwing her bowl in the sink and grabbing her briefcase with her. "Is the car outside?"

"That reminds me, Preventer sent over a new car, the previous one was found to be a security hazard by Mr. Chang."

"Wufei worries more then I do. It is rather annoying, at least he means well." Relena said as she stepped through the door of her house, two bodyguards on her front and two behind.

Dawn did not reply, Wufei and her had never really seen eye-to-eye on very many things, if anything. It was amusing to see her primary bodyguard argue with his aid, Wufei's attitude towards people was not always received very well. Relena giggled to herself as she thought about prior engagements with officials who had crossed his path.

"Where is Wufei anyway?" Relena said opening her door to the car.

"Probably out harassing some little girl for playing with dolls." Ms. Dawn said as she followed Relena into the car.

"That is not true, and is how gossip is started Ms. Dawn." Wufei said while staring across from the two as they sat into the Limo. "Now do you have the folder on the man who was caught breaking in last night?"

Relena looked at Wufei dumbfounded for a second, obviously unaware that anyone had even attempted to get to her. She looked at Dawn as she pulled out a manilla folder handing it to Wufei.

"Yes Mr. Chang, your little Preventers couldn't find you this morning, which begs the question: where were you?"

Grasping the folder Wufei eyed Dawn coldly, while opening it slowly. He looked up for a second and replied casually, "That is inconsequential." The car pulled out of the driveway and began to move towards the Brussels Government offices.

"Wait, someone tried to break in last night and I was not informed." Relena said leaning forward from her seat rather livid at being left out of the loop.

"You must understand Miss Dorlain, we figured since you were unaware it would be best not to trouble you, but Mr. Chang has shown no tact as usual!" Dawn sneered the last part out while crossing her arms and laying back into her seat.

"Don't insult me woman, besides Relena you have nothing to fear, it was that goof of a friend of yours who got caught." Wufei cocked his head back and let out a ridiculous laugh, while showing Relena photos of an upturned Duo hanging from her balcony , a vine keeping him from falling the two stories.

"Amazing, someone tries an attempt on your life and you laugh it off?" Dawn said taken back at the scene in front of her.

"Don't be silly Dawn, this is one of my friends. His name is Duo, Duo Maxwell." She closed the folder and turned towards Wufei who had reverted back to a frown, "Wufei please make sure that he is released."

"Let him stay, he deserves it." Wufei said as he turned his head out the window scanning the horizon.

"Do all your friends like to sneak into your mansion armed with a gun?" Dawn asked perturbed and slightly confused.

"Don't worry Hun, you'll get used to it." Relena winked at her and sat back in her seat.

AC 200

Wednesday 3, April

L1 Colony X984325

Time:0430

When in the field for extended periods of time it is common for an operative to become very paranoid. They imagine things that are probably not there, or believe that they are being watched. This sometimes leads to hysteria and a fear for ones life that can cause the operative to make mistakes on a mission.

However, Heero Yuy had no more missions, except perhaps to finish writing that program for the new software he was developing. Then why did he have the feeling that someone was in his apartment, and why was that feeling confirmed when he noticed that the handle had a small indention that hadn't previously been there.

Someone had broken into his apartment and he had stopped carrying a pistol with him. There was one in every room of his house however this equated that the assailant would be heavily armed if he found them.

Heero thought to himself for a second. Using his memory for the layout of the house, he'd hit the door and roll from the living room to the hallway. From there he'd head into the bathroom, he'd kept a pistol under the toilet, hopefully it would still be there.

He breathed through his nose and hit the door heavy on the left side were the hinges were, with his foot to break them off. It gave and came down in one motion, he tucked his knee into his chest as he came down and pushed off with his feet throwing him three feet into the hall and allowing him to roll to a safe stop in front of the bathroom.

"Mr. Yuy please, I've just come to talk." a voice said from the living room, the person began to move towards the hall.

Heero moved into the bathroom reached under the toilet and grasped at air. He looked back up to see a man, perhaps 40, medium build, and holding his weapon.

"This belongs to you." The man held it out, barrel facing his own chest an obvious sign of trust.

"Who are you?" Heero said grabbing his pistol and immediately tucking it in the back of his pants. This would be the last time he'd get careless and leave home without some kind of weapon.

"Your asking the wrong questions Heero, it is never important WHO a person is. No, what matters is their agenda, you for example are an ex-assassin, ex-mercenary, ex-soldier, ex-hero, and soon to be ex-computer programmer." The man stared at him and reached in his coat jacket and pulled out a large envelope, "I suggest you read this thoroughly, there is 10,000 dollars inside and Mr. Yuy, good luck you will need it."

Heero grabbed the envelope still confused, he inspected it for a second, then looked back up. The man had left just as quickly as he had come to deliver the message. Heero looked over the package again examining the outside. He walked back into his living room, pulling the door from the ground and leaning it against the frame.

There were problems with this scenario already, a man had broken into his house just to deliver a package which probably meant that he was either looking for something or he had been planting something in the house. Either way it was unsafe for him to be in the house any longer. With that knowledge he grabbed a jacket and another gun and placed it around his ankle leaving the apartment.

AC 200

Wednesday 3, April

L1 Colony X984325

Time:0600

He had been switching from staring at the envelope to looking at his apartment on the third floor across the street. The coffee in front of him tasted stale and black probably from how long it had been sitting there, but the morning shift at this diner had horrendous coffee anyway. Heero refocused on the envelope that he had yet to open. Even if it was another assassination he'd need to know who they wanted him to kill so he'd be able to stop it.

Heero pulled the flap open and turned the package upside down emptying the contents for plain view. A manila folder, an mp3 player that had triggered when he opened it, 10,000 dollars, two passports, and one brand new license.

A quiet voice was playing on the mp3 player, so low that he had to place it on his ear to hear what it was saying.

"Good morning Mr. Yuy, it has come to our attention that at one point you were working as a mercenary after the incidents of AC 195 and 196. This is high treason in the ESUN and you are hereby sentenced to death." The voice paused and as it did, Heero heard an explosion and turned to see his apartment destroyed by a bomb probably placed by the intruder. The fire spurted out of the windows as if it were the tongue of a snake tasting the air.

"Well if this tape has continued to play then you are lucky and did not open it in your house, which would have been a rookie mistake. Welcome then to the Ghosts—that is if you can survive reaching Preventer Une's office by the 7th of April. Good luck!" The player began to make garbled sounds and Heero knew immediately that it had deteriorated to cover the Preventers from being found out.

Heero dropped the Mp3 player and opened the manila folder, displaying its contents.

Situation: You are mercenary that has been chosen for the recruitment with the Ghosts. A highly secretive and newly formed organization. If you should choose not to work with the group you will be captured and sent to prison for your crimes against the peace that the ESUN has brought. It is only fair to warn you that you have

also been blamed for the death of an ambassador and the Preventers will be hunting you. Although the press hasn't been notified they will be by the 8th of April and all personnel who have not reported will be assigned as the assassins of the ambassador.

Mission: 1.Reach Preventer Headquarters before April 7th.

2.Do not become compromised.

Execution: Use your own discretion.

Heero read the abbreviated Operations Orders a second time before deciding on a plan of action. It would be difficult to reach earth in 4 days, since the last commercial shuttle had left yesterday, and the rotation didn't have another for two weeks.

A.C 200

Friday 5, April

Brussels-Preventer HQ

Time: 1230

"I will not be transferred to any new goddamned unit! The ESUN will have to find someone else to baby-sit these murderers." Wufei threw the discharge and reassignment papers on Une's desk.

"They are not murderers, just soldiers who cannot re-assimilate into the civilian world, I believe you had that problem a few years ago?" Une placed her hands together and leaned back in her chair. "At any rate I agree with you, they should have used Preventers to fill the ranks and waited till they were trained but, the higher ups believe that it will be easier to use individuals who are already think like terrorists. Either way, for the first five years they will be our force to use against the recent terrorist groups. Wufei, they'll probably put you in charge of the unit, your the third highest ranking Preventer and one of the few that have been chosen to start this unit."

Wufei stared at the floor for a second a frown across his face as he stood in deep concentration. These men would be used to be working alone, which means they'd have to be taught to work together. He'd also need to have subordinates he could trust and that were reliable. Perhaps the others might be able to help.

"The other pilots? I'd like to have them assigned to help me." Wufei looked at Une as she made a face of dismay.

"The recruitment for the unit was quite interesting, they traced all missions that had been hired out to mercenaries in the past, assassins as well. I was able to put Duo in as an officer because he'd begun to work with you guarding Relena last month. Quatre, thankfully, has been completely hands off and was able to stay out of their search. However, they found Heero and Trowa before me and they were offered the chance to be in the unit." Une looked down at her desk, an anguished look on her face.

"Then they can deny the call and sign up with the Preventers." Wufei matter-of-factly stated.

"It doesn't work like that Wufei." Une looked up from her desk and was about to speak again when she was interrupted.

"No it doesn't." Heero said as he walked through the door. His hand rested on the small of his back as he prepared to grab his weapon.

"Heero, your here quite early, I expected you to be first, but it's only been two days?" Une looked taken back.

"Wait, I thought you said you couldn't find him. How did you know he'd be here?" Wufei eyed the two suspiciously.

Heero turned to Wufei, a glare of pure anger across his face, pointing towards Une he spoke, "She blew up my house, and had Preventers chasing me here. If I hadn't come she would have blackmailed me."

Une stood up to the accusation and grabbed the side of her desk as she leaned forward. "I did no such thing. The Ghosts are a completely different unit from the Preventers. In fact I have no control of them. Now sit down and quit toying with your gun, I have a phone call to make."

Heero sat down begrudgingly and stared at Une as she picked up the phone to make her call. Wufei stared at the two wondering what was going on. Why would you try to kill your own operators, that didn't make sense. He understood that if they didn't survive the initial assassination attempt then they would have good instincts. Then attempting to hunt them down would show their skills in evasion. The official in charge of the group probably had some experience with this type of group, but indiscriminate killing of your own operators didn't make sense.

"I just got off the phone with your new commander. He is sending up the Ghost Liason to transfer you to the training grounds." Une placed the phone on the hook and looked at Heero and then Wufei, "Stay alive you two, I've seen the training doctrine, it's not simple."

Wufei scoffed, "We were Gundam pilots, I'm sure it's nothing new."


	2. Chapter 2

-1Disclaimer: I don't own anything here but the plot, besides that everything belongs to the creators of Gundam Wing.

For the purpose of understanding time it will be Zulu time, which basically means Universal time which stays constant no matter what time zone.

A.C 200

Monday 8, April

Colorado, Former USA- Undisclosed Training Location

Time: 0600

When he arrived at the training compound he noticed two things. The first was that there were a lot of people in the warehouse on first glance over 1,000. The second was that Heero was still pissed off at having to be here after three days to cool off. They'd come here after meeting with Une and had spent the last three days sitting and waiting for people to show up. He'd been pulled away from his comrade twice to receive orders about what exactly was happening with the Ghosts. Une had been correct in her assumption that he would be put in charge of the unit, which meant he'd have to train all of them too.

"You know Chang, the thing that pisses me off the most is that they tried to kill me. I usually follow that up with the death of the one who orchestrated it. Instead I'm working for them."

Wufei looked at Heero then went back to leaning on his wall. He thought about saying something to his comrade, but really there was nothing to say. He'd want to kill someone who'd tried to take his life to but how do you attack a government that you support.

"Does that include yourself? I remember you blowing up a certain mobile suit with yourself still inside it, then having to take care of your sorry ass for the next couple of months." Trowa seemed to appear from no where, surprising both pilots.

"Barton, I thought you would have been here right after Yuy, what took you?" Wufei hopped off the wall and faced both of them.

"I wanted to find out who was responsible for blowing up my trailer." Trowa sighed a bit and shook his head, "I loved that trailer."

"Ha" Wufei's head jerked back and Heero and Trowa looked at him in surprise, "The stoic bad-ass clown is crying over his trailer! Your ridiculous."

Trowa replied with a frown and turned his head as he saw Duo approaching.

"Hey guys, we need to talk about this whole thing" Duo looked at all three of them and then spoke again, "Before the new boss comes in."

Duo entered first and hopped onto a table instead of taking one of the four chairs surrounding it. As he situated himself he looked at Wufei who in turn gave him a subtle nod.

"From what Wufei and I can tell so far, they want us and the rest of these guys to create a group of hitmen."

Wufei rolled his eyes as he moved across the room to get some water.

"It's a little more complex then that Maxwell, they're going to train you to work as a team. It's assumed that you already know the basics and some type of advanced techniques but they want teams that can hunt down terrorist groups before they hit using their own tactics and not being as restricted as the Preventers are." The water poured down his throat, he was already parched, talking anymore would only make it dryer, "The idea makes sense and could put a dent in terrorist actions taken against the ESUN."

"So they want us to be killers again." Trowa was sitting at the table drumming his fingers on the table. "Never-mind that we didn't sign up for this, we're just forced to help them."

"Maybe you shouldn't have been operating as a mercenary Barton, that's how they found you, it isn't hard when you advertise your services." Wufei's disapproval at his profession was not hidden.

Heero spoke before Trowa, "We never took a job, it was a way to find out who was shopping for revolutionaries. It was a cover, all those missions we were offered we stopped. Your damned Preventers didn't figure that out did they." Heero's glare was venomous and his arms were no longer crossed as his hands created fist.

Wufei had nothing to say at that, he just seemed to take in the words and glared back in return.

"This is a good idea, it could work Heero, we weren't stopping nearly enough on our own." Trowa stood up and put a hand on Heero's shoulder, "We can do more working with these people then alone."

Heero looked down, crossed his arms again and stared at the floor. "Does Relena know I'm here?"

Duo stood up and pushed Heero into a wall, "Why did you finally decide to grow up and go talk to her?"

It was the first time he'd really talked besides entering the office. Heero's eyes narrowed as he placed his hands on Duo's chest and shoved his friend off of him.

"You're out of line Maxwell, you come at me like that again and I'll make sure you limp for the rest of your life." Heero was already heading out the door as the rest of the group caught the last bit of the sentence.

Trowa looked from the door to Duo's sprawled out form on the floor. Lifting the eye that wasn't covered by his bang and asked, "Did I miss something?"

Wufei helped Duo to his feet while replying to Trowa, "Yuy slept with Dorlain after the Dekim incident. Stayed around for a few months before he decided to leave, told her goodbye then left."

"She hasn't seen him since." Duo said as he straightened his uniform.

"At least he said goodbye." Trowa said.

Wufei looked at his phone as it received a message, then turned to the two other pilots. "Mckeanen's about too speak to the group." Wufei paused for a second then looked at Trowa, "This whole thing is his idea so he's the only one we answer too."

A.C 200

Monday 8, April

Colorado, Former USA- Undisclosed Training Location

Time: 0630

"I know that all of you are upset by the way that you were brought here, I would be to, however your skills are necessary for this mission and it was important for us to test those skills." Senator Mckeanen was situated at a podium in front of the assembled mercenaries and assassins.

Heero really didn't care what the man said, it was frustrating to know that he had been tracked down so easily, did they know who he really was? Most likely not but he'd have to be careful. Mckeanen was wrapping up his speech, telling them that they'd be free from their obligation in five years and be given new lives. The old man looked like the type of person you'd trust and from the way he spoke and tested his new 'soldiers' he was smart. It was the thought that the man seemed too trustworthy that caused Heero not to trust him.

Duo was next standing near Wufei behind Mckeanen, the two weren't the only Preventers there and it was easy for Heero to deduce that they would most likely be in charge of the fledgling unit being created. He'd speed counted when he came out but was nearly positive that there were over 2500 people here. That was a quarter of all the Preventer forces and five times as many as the Preventer Strike Force. He started to listen to Mckeanen as he spoke again.

"These Preventers will be in charge of training all of you to be an elite team. As individuals you are deadly in your own right and are probably capable of taking down most of these cells, but as a team you will become invincible and a true force that can assist the ESUN in keeping peace." Mckeanen looked to Wufei and gestured towards the microphone as he stepped down from the podium.

Heero saw Wufei narrow his eyes at the crowd probably attempting to intimidate any of the weaker set in the audience. His beginning sounded rehearsed which was odd from the former Gundam pilot.

"A single man can be destroyed, but a well trained team is more lethal then any bomb. We're going to train all of you to work together to the point that you know what a member of the team will do before they know it."

He tuned out again and remembered what it had felt like to work with the other pilots. It had only been a couple of times during the Eve Wars but they'd fought well together. Not nearly as close to the level Wufei had described, but no one could say that the five of them were easy to beat in battle. This plan could work, the only problem was that interacting with the other pilots always lead him to _HER._

Heero shook his head and let out a growl, he wouldn't think about her again. He had a new mission.

A.C 200

Tuesday 9, April

Brussels- Preventer HQ

Time: 1300

Relena's lunch time was really her only time to herself throughout the day. She spent the rest meeting with people and solving their problems. It was because of this that Lady Une knew that the Foreign Minister had to be justifiably upset to be in front of her desk at the moment.

"I've had Wufei as head of my security for the past 3 years Une. Why did you reassign him, most attempts on my life have been stopped before they even came to fruition thanks to him." Relena was pacing back and forth in front of her desk.

"Preventer Chang has been promoted and is currently away retraining to better serve in that specific job." Une answered coolly while sizing up the Minister who had stopped pacing and turned with a smile that screamed 'Gotcha'.

"Really, then why is Duo gone. No one gets promoted in a month, where did they go Une!" Relena's voice left no room for argument. She wanted the truth, she'd only get lies.

Une was pleased with the young diplomat, but still she was not as trapped as she thought. "Miss Dorlain please, Preventer Chang took Maxwell with him. He was allowed to bring an assistant and seemed to think that Mr. Maxwell would be perfect for the job."

"And so they both leave without telling their girlfriends where they are going?" Relena's eyes narrowed as she slowly sprang her trap around Une.

She forgot that the two girls were friends with Relena and it frustrated her to no end to have walked into that, she responded however by only lifting an eyebrow. "Relena, I don't know where their priorities are but where they were sent it's best that you leave the subject alone." Une spoke softer this time and gave a little to the diplomat so that the discussion would be settled.

Relena turned quickly and walked out of the office.

A.C 200

Tuesday 9, April

Brussels- Preventer HQ

Time: 1330

As she stomped down the hall towards the elevator Relena's fury was openly displayed on her face. Une had tried to handle her, she was smart enough not to let her truly control the conversation, but still the Preventer commander was entirely to good at for someone who was supposed to just be a soldier. At least she knew that Duo and Wufei were ok. Sally and Hilde had called after neither had called them for a couple of days. She'd thought that they'd gone to spend time with their significant others since it wasn't uncommon, but when she couldn't find them and had found out that she had a new head of security she'd stormed into Une's office.

Why didn't they at least say goodbye, even Heero had the decency too do that. She instantly sighed and remembered the few months that she'd been happy with him. Then he'd left, a goodbye kiss and then she never saw him again, even that feeling of him watching over her was gone. She still needed some closure on that relationship because she could still feel that now annoying feeling of love for him creeping up.

Dawn was waiting in the elevator and began to speak to her as soon as she was inside. "President Richmond called, the cabinet meeting has been moved up from 4 o'clock to 2, we'll have to head there immediately to make it on time. I've already called the driver around front."

She mentally kicked herself for not brining a snack or something to beat the hunger that was beginning to form a headache. She smiled as Dawn handed her an apple and patted her on the back.

"You'll make it through Relena."

A.C 200

Tuesday 9, April

Brussels- Preventer HQ

Time: 1405

Richmond watched as his Foreign Minister walked into the meeting room. He knew that she'd be late, he'd expected most of the cabinet to be late since this was typically their lunch break. The meeting however had been moved up as Mckeanen was able to brief it earlier then expected and the President wanted to know everything that was going on in his government.

"Miss Dorlain, please take your seat, Senator Mckeanen is about to brief us on a project of his." Richmond said while gesturing towards her seat to the right of his.

Mckeanen was facing the Cabinet with his back to the huge screen that would show his presentation. "Go ahead and begin, I'd like to know how our plans have been going."

Richmond saw Relena stare at him for a second before shifting her eyes to the front, he knew the young minister didn't like being kept out of the loop, but this unit would have to be an absolute secret.

"Right, The President and all regional and colonial leaders authorized the creation of a unit to compliment are weakened Preventer forces. The unit will consist of 2600 professional soldiers, under the codename 'Ghosts,' who will be stationed around the world and colonies in order to hunt and destroy terrorist cells and organizations before they are able to strike."

"Professional soldiers as in Mercenaries senator?" Richmond turned as Relena phrased the question her eyes giving away her displeasure at the thought of using mercenaries.

"Yes Miss Dorlain, if you please, could you hold all questions till the end of the briefing." Mckeanen answered returning her glare with a neutral stare of his own. "The soldiers will be replaced after five years with those we can take from Preventers, but at the moment we will have to resort to these professionals. After recruiting the soldiers we began training at a location that only the President and I know of."

He turned on the presentation and it showed a small room with 4 beds and a separate room which could only be a bathroom.

"They were split into groups of four and have begun training as of yesterday. All of the recruits are already extremely efficient soldiers in their own right, however working together they will be a superior force to any terrorist group. They live in these rooms together and will stay there for the next two months as they become a true working team. We expect them to be sent out on their first missions by June 15th."

Richmond noticed that Relena shifted and her eyes seemed to brighten as if she had just realized something. He'd have to ask her about that.

"The first month we will place completely on getting them all to an equal level of physical ability and fighting ability. We've taken the top Preventers in these areas and although a very small amount of the soldiers will be superior to their trainers, we believe that they will all be able to meet the deadline and cut-offs."

The screen moved to a training regimen for the first month, which focused on large amounts of physical training, as well as Martial Arts, Shooting, Fieldcraft, Tradecraft, and the letters FOFTF.

Richmond couldn't contain himself, "Mckeanen, I apologize for interrupting FOFTF? What is that?"

"It's alright Mr. President," the senator brushed off and continued, "It stands for Force on Force Team Fighting. The teams will be dropped off in a location of extreme hardship and fight for their survival against all the other teams, in order to win none of their teammates must be 'killed'. It will be difficult but will force them to work together."

The second months training regimen appeared next. Fieldcraft, Tradecraft were removed and there was a significant drop in the number of FOFTF exercises but the replacement was FOFCT. This time however Mckeanen explained it before they interrupted again.

"FOFCT stand for Force on Force Coordinating Teams, the teams will be split into 50 man groups. Two people will be in charge of the 12 teams as they are sent to complete missions against each other. The purpose will be to train them at working together in larger scale assaults. That's all I have for you Mr. President, are there any questions?"

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't pleased. Two months wasn't so long that it would take forever to field these troops, at the same time it wasn't so short that it seemed like the soldiers were under trained.

"Who are they loyal too? If they are mercenaries won't they go to the highest bidder?" Relena asked.

"Good question Miss Dorlain, the simple answer is that we pay the most. There are very few people with enough money to match what we are paying out to the mercenaries, aside from that though, we're offering them freedom. We've found them out Miss Dorlain and most important thing to these people is their anonymity and without it, they can't work. They have no choice but to remain loyal." Mckeanen's answer was well-thought out, but Richmond instantly saw the flaw.

"Who would be able to match the ESUN in paying for these mercenaries?" Richmond asked while ensuring the stenographer was writing so he could look over who Mckeanen mentioned.

"Not many, in fact, Quatre Winner of L-4, is the only one who could pay for it by himself." Mckeanen strummed his chin for a moment, "It's also possible that if three of the top five business's got together they could afford to purchase the services of the Ghosts."

Richmond nodded his head at this, it would be difficult for two companies or one man to pay for that large of a bill without a red flag popping up, even Relena looked semi-satisfied with the answer. He only had one more question for Mckeanen, "How are they going to be organized exactly, you mentioned large scale attacks."

"Ah yes, it's quite simple actually, 200 will be stationed in every continent and colony cluster, 400 for Asia. 150 will be operatives while 50 will be a mini-strike force for that region. Complete control will fall under command of Preventer Wufei Chang who will report to me. If it's necessary, all mini-strike forces can work together and create a strike force numbering around 650 Ghost."

The Secretary of Defense spoke up upon hearing that number, "Senator that outnumbers our Preventer Strike Force, that can't be a wise decision."

"Please I understand that it seems worrisome at the moment, but it is all temporary, once we can train Preventers to the level that these men are at we can then use them instead. This is necessary for our security."

A.C 200

Thursday 11, April

Colorado, Former USA- Ghost Training Facility

Time: 0700

He'd been running for an hour and the sweat had been accumulating at the end of his braid. Duo didn't consider himself to be an Olympic athlete by any means, but he was in good shape. Still these 3 hour long workouts were destroying him. Monday had been test day, Tuesday was an introduction to all the crap they'd have to do for the next two months. Wednesday was the first day of true training and it had made him want to quit immediately. So here he was already on his 9th mile, he could see Wufei and Trowa about 100 meters ahead of him, and if he squinted his eyes he saw Heero running at least a good 400 meters ahead of the rest of them leading the pack.

He didn't consider that odd, Mr. Perfect Soldier was still in disgusting shape and he'd actually managed to get taller and went from being skinny to a lean, pure muscle. Duo pushed a little harder and increased his pace to try and catch up to Wufei and Trowa more for the company then anything else, there was no one behind him for at least half a mile.

Duo felt the burn as he finally caught up and matched the pace of his fellow pilots. "How'd you guys stay in shape all these years."

Wufei's scowl focused on Duo and one word was spat out, "Discipline."

Duo replied quickly to the not so hidden insult, "Hey Wuffers how are you running so fast if you have a stick up your ass?"

Trowa laughed out loud and fell back a couple of feet as his breathing was thrown off by the comedic pilot.

A.C 200

Thursday 11, April

Colorado, Former USA- Ghost Training Facility

Time: 1100

Left foot, Right foot, Left foot, Right, he'd been timing Wufei as he fought Trowa to determine any patterns or weaknesses and was surprised to find no predictable movements. Trowa blocked three punches to his head and flipped out a low sweep kick. Wufei was being uncharacteristically aggressive during the match, until he saw why.

Wufei was an expert in Eastern Martial Arts, Trowa had studied Capoiera extensively though and was using the elusiveness that the style brought to his advantage. Although it seemed like Wufei was being to forward the assault was necessary because as soon as Wufei stopped Trowa did a round-off into Wufei's chest. Heero noted that Wufei's style of Martial Arts was extremely direct and that the elusiveness of Capoiera was overwhelming the young Chinese man.

As Wufei landed on his back he rolled out and propelled himself into the air, using the momentum left from Trowa's kick he extended his right leg into the jaw of the green-haired pilot. Wufei landed in a crouch as Trowa was still recovering and launched himself into Trowa's gut with an elbow followed by an uppercut. The fight was over and Trowa was out before he hit the ground.

"That was nasty Heero, I know Boxing and Muay Thai but I don't think I'd last to long against either of those two." Duo looked to Heero with a question gaze, "Hey what styles do you know?"

Heero turned with a smirk on his lips, "Duo I'm an expert in 12 different fighting styles, I know Wufei knows 7 all of which are Eastern, 3 I can do, 4 I know of."

Duo's reply was a whistle, an eye roll and the word "show-off."

Wufei bowed to Trowa as he left the mat and began to motion for Heero to come before he was interrupted.

"Sir, I'd like to spar with you next if that's possible." Heero noticed the man was a little taller then Wufei probably his own height. He recognized him from Wednesday's Martial Arts class, he'd broken the trainer's jaw.

"Simmons, yes you will be my last match for the day," Heero saw that Wufei looked almost regretful at that thought.

They bowed to each other and Simmons crouched into a Muay Thai stance, while Wufei assumed a defensive Wing Chun stance. Heero noticed that Simmons was the aggressor this time and began with a jab followed by a combination of punches and kicks that flowed from Muay Thai to kickboxing. Wufei adapted easily and switched styles to stop the hard hitting kicks.

As Wufei blocked a kick Simmons moved around with a spinning back fist to Wufei's face. This left the Preventer stunned and Simmons moved to his back and used a Judo throw to toss Wufei onto the mat, hard. He followed the throw with a back handspring onto Wufei's chest and stomach knocking the wind out of his opponent and ending the fight.

"Did that just happen?" Duo asked out loud as Heero thought the same thing.

A.C 200

Thursday 11, April

Colorado, Former USA- Ghost Training Facility

Time: 1830

When they'd separated them into teams, Trowa knew the chance of him getting put with any of the pilots was nearly zero. He was surprised though that the people chosen to work with him were proficient in most aspects of their given abilities. They didn't use their given names, just codenames and that suited Trowa fine. Team or not, the less anyone knew the better it would be for them all when they went their separate ways.

There were four of them, the first was an average build man white male probably in his early 30's and the Preventer assigned to his team, he called himself Matches, which fit because of the match that he kept in his mouth. It was actually kind of weird since the guy never seemed to light it, just keep it in his mouth. Then there was Bob, who reminded him a lot of Duo except that he was over 40 and was black. Not to mention the guy was built like a tank, Trowa wasn't sure if they were or weren't allowed to use steroids but Bob had definitely used them before they all met up. Finally there was 'Dirty Harry', which was an odd name for an even more odd person. Harry had seen too many Clint Eastwood movies and was basically a fanatic of the actor. The only thing that was odd to Trowa was that Harry was Vietnamese and had obviously learned his English from watching the movies.

This was the first time that he'd been out with his team and from what he'd seen so far, they would work well together. On Wednesday they had learned the hand signals they would need in order to communicate with each other. They'd been dropped on the side of cliff face with the intention of hunting down the other teams. They'd been told that the area that they were operating in would shrink as the teams were killed off and that it would probably all be over in 4 hours. Ha, they'd started at 2 and it was already six and they'd only killed four teams.

Where they were originally operating in 12x12 mile area with 650 teams out, the size had shrunk to 4x4 and there were still 200 other teams out there. He signaled the rest of his team forward with a simple hand gesture, he'd been sent ahead to scout. The team was using a diamond formation with him at the front, Bob to the rear, Harry on the left and Matches to the right.

Earlier they had climbed down the cliff face and into an ambush that had almost cost them their 'lives' but none of the simulated ammunition had hit them as they had dove for cover. Since then the team had to move through the woods and were keeping to the same plan. Trowa would scout ahead and if he saw the enemy would signal the others to close around the group, if the enemy saw him before hand Trowa would get behind cover and wait for his teammates before engaging.

As he moved through the brush, taking careful light steps and ensuring that he left no trace of his presence as he continued on. Ahead he could see a stream that they would need to cross and he made the signals to his compatriots.

A head nod from each of them acknowledged that they had seen him and agreed with the plan he signaled. Bob and Matches crept up about 10 meters off to his left and right, while Harry skulked backwards and climbed into a tree that would let him observe the entire situation.

Trowa crossed quickly diving over the small stream and landing on his hands were two rocks were leaving no imprints of his presence as he did a handspring into the wood line. His weapon was already scanning the area for any presence and he walked in 20 meters before heading back to the stream to signal to his team to cross. He waved the all clear signal and three shots were fired into his chest as the mini-paintballs plastered his camouflage blue.

"Get cover" Matches screamed as five of rounds flew past him and landed on the side of Bob's head. Matches dropped into the stream in attempt to stop the fire from hitting him. Trowa heard the retort of Harry's rifle flinging paintballs at who he could only assume was the enemy.

Matches rolled out of the stream onto the side of the wood line were Trowa sat 'dead.' It was frustrating for him to be dead, but this trap had been well set. That's when Trowa heard more weapons firing then there should have been for just two teams. He looked down the stream at where the team that had ambushed him was being attacked by two other Ghost. Matches saw it too and began firing at both teams. Had Trowa been 'alive' and able to speak he would have told his fearless leader that there were still two others out there and that they would locate his position from his crazed firing.

It was then that the two others appeared one with a long braid cascading down his back and fired at Matches and Trowa.

"Hey I'm already hit, do I look like I'm shooting!" Trowa screamed angrily, those little balls hurt.

"My bad Tro-Man, causality of war?" Duo shrugged as he and his partner both retook aim at Harry who was still busy shooting at their original ambushers.

As he heard Harry scream, "I don't feel Lucky!" he sighed inwardly. Yeah his team would do well, if they didn't fall into a simple trap.

A.C 200

Thursday 11, April

Brussels- Foreign Minister's office

Time: 1900

"So you'll be coming in on the 15th of April at 10am right Quatre?" Relena asked as she leaned back in her chair while putting her feet on top of the desk. Undignified position be damned, her back hurt and she was sorely tired.

"Yes Relena, it will be great to see you and Wufei again, Duo's guarding you too now right?" Quatre's face seemed hopeful over the vid-screen, she felt terrible to let him down with the news.

"Actually no, Quatre I can't really tell you over the air like this but basically they've been reassigned I have a completely new stick in the mud to break in." She tried to force a laugh to hide her sadness at the fact that two of her friends were gone, but Quatre saw through it.

"I'm sure they'd rather be with you but I understand, we'll talk about it more when I get there then. I look forward to seeing you again, but I have to go till I see you again." He smiled warmly before turning off the vid-screen.

Relena ran her hands through her hair and massaged her scalp for a second. As much as she enjoyed teasing Wufei she did miss him as well. He'd been in charge of her security after the Dekim incident and she'd grown used to his presence.

The thought of where he was made her frown. She would be able to tell Quatre since he was a colonial delegate and would learn about the units formation in the next week, but she had to continue to lie to both Sally and Hilde and try and placate them with hollow comforts of how the two were probably sent on a last minute mission.

She liked Senator Mckeanen, he had always been a comforting older man who had supported her push for total pacifism during the Eve Wars as well as during the creation of the ESUN. He must have become cynical though with the rising number of terrorist attacks, but even she had changed from being a total pacifist to one who understood that sometimes it was necessary to fight.

The Ghosts though seemed to be too large of a step towards a military that had been done away with. The idea of stopping the ESUN's enemies before they had a chance to kill others was an obvious plus, but how they would get that information seemed to be a little suspect. Hunter-Killer groups would be dangerous at the same time the groups they would be stopping were just as if not more dangerous. She remembered having a conversation like this a few years ago.

_"The end justifies the means Relena, if a few laws that have no effect on law-abiding citizens are broken but it saves the lives of hundreds and ends those who cause them harm, then it works." the speaker drank down his coffee and looked at her over the cup._

_"No, I can't agree with that. Even if they are criminals or terrorist, they have rights their human aren't they." she replied._

_He placed the coffee back on the table and ran a hand through his brown hair and looked at her._

_"They don't think about the rights of those they'd kill Relena, they just do it, I know I never did" ,she looked a little taken back at that and he decided to press the opening, "They forfeit their rights and feelings the moment they decide to take away a human life."_

_Relena stared at him before leaning across the table and surprising him with a gentle kiss on his lips. Her hand grasped his cheek and she pulled just far enough away for him to hear her next words._

_"Maybe your right Heero, but your not one of them anymore."_

A.C 200

Friday 12, April

Colorado, Former USA- Ghost Training Facility

Time: 0030

They'd been the 6th to last team eliminated tonight and he was exhausted as he completed his last rep on the bench. Wufei's team had gone to bed about 30 minutes ago right after they had an after action review over there overall communication and ability through the night.

They had talked very little unless it was to plan and whenever they attacked they were quick. They weren't able to read each other yet, but he knew that they were getting there. The trust and instinct would only come with time, right now they were still feeling each other out.

Overall his team had performed well and he was extremely happy that he had been the one who had gotten Simmons out of the exercise paying him back from that attack the other day. It was too bad Yuy's team had been waiting for both teams to engage each other and wiped the both of them out after that.

If he was honest though Simmons attack had hurt him more then he had let on, hell if he was being completely honest, this whole training regimen was insane and he was being pushed to his limit. Which led to the question why was he still up an hour after the Ghost were allowed to actually sleep. The answer was simple for him though, image. He was going to have to lead this entire group of professionals and if they didn't think he was up to the task it would make it only harder.

He took a towel from the stack that was near the door and wiped off his face. He'd shower in the morning, he needed sleep now before he passed out, they were waking up in about 4 hours. As he entered the small room he shared with the three other members of his team he thought to himself about his last words to Une before they came to this hell hole.

_"We were Gundam pilots, I'm sure it's nothing new."_

'New or not, it still sucked' Wufei thought as he went to sleep.


End file.
